The Whitney Biennial is the only exhibit in the country that even attempts to showcase the best contemporary art being made in the U.S. It's an impossible job, really, and people love and hate the every-two-years show at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

In its vigilant attempt to get it right, the Whitney has experimented with its curatorial strategies many times over the years. And it is doing so again. | Nov. 29, 2012»Read Full Blog Post(2)

For the past three decades, the Tennessee-born comic has been honing an act that mixes his life observations and family interactions with his own Southern charm. As can be guessed by the title of his current tour, Cho maintains a clean act. But, it doesn't pander. His jokes work both in night clubs nationwide and the churches he visits on the "Funny but Clean Comedy Tour." | Jan. 17, 2013»Read Full Blog Post

This Saturday, the feature film "Role Play", directed by nationally known Milwaukee-native Rubin Whitmore opens at the Art Museum. This comedy features an all-Milwaukee cast lead by comedians Terrence "T-Dot" Kingsby, Kelly "Kellz" Sunnett Davis, Adrian "Da Jester" Patrick, Ruth "MsCutnup" Troop, and also Gig Jackson. T-Dot and Kellz play a struggling married couple and after visiting a relationship counselor, they have an out of body experience that will test the value of their marriage. I can't give you all the details but know it's funny and Milwaukee hasn't seen so much talent come together like this in a long time. | Jan. 17, 2013»Read Full Blog Post

Country star Blake Shelton announced on his website Thursday that he’s hitting the road starting in July for a 30-date “Ten Times Crazier” tour – and he’s making a stop Sept. 13 at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Rap star Nicki Minaj, composer Terence Blanchard and country singer Chris Young all are alumni of the National YoungArts Foundation - and now, so is Milwaukee singer Felix Ramsey Jr.

Ramsey flew out to Miami on his 18th birthday Jan. 5 to participate in YoungArts Week, where he sang Maxwell's "Pretty Wings" and Beyoncé's "Halo" for a college scholarship. ($1,000 is guaranteed and as much as $10,000 is possible; he should know by next week how much he'll receive.) | Jan. 17, 2013»Read Full Article(1)

It's the time of year when movies get louder and dumber. But you don't have to hibernate: The UWM Union Theater spring schedule, which runs through May, will warm the heart of any film lover. Films are presented under the auspices of a genre category, including;

"Pariah" (Feb. 4), "Middle of Nowhere" (April 11) by Sundance Film Festival award-winning director Ava DuVernay, and a restored version of the 1964 film "Nothing but a Man" (Feb. 18) are in the African-American series; | Jan. 17, 2013»Read Full Article

3 p.m. Friday

The 28th annual Waukesha Janboree, kicking off Friday afternoon, runs hot and cold this year - from fireworks to ice bowling and lots of stuff in between in keeping with this year's "Fire and Ice" theme. | Jan. 17, 2013»Read Full Article

Holly Hotchner will step down as director of the Museum of Art and Design in New York City, leaving her post at the end of April. She's been with the institution for 16 years.

The museum's board of directors will begin a search for a new director in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the museum has appointed David Gordon, former director of the Milwaukee Art Museum and former secretary of the Royal Academy of Arts in London as acting director. He will take over the day-to-day management of the museum. | Jan. 17, 2013»Read Full Blog Post

There has been much chatter of late about Milwaukee being a fabulous “art place.” As you may have heard, a swath of downtown was named one of America’s top art neighborhoods last week by ArtPlace, a national coalition that includes the National Endowment for the Arts and big-time national foundations.

Typically, artists will do almost anything to keep making art. Take Chuck Close, the internationally recognized portrait painter who suffered a spinal blood clot at 49. As a quadriplegic, he developed a system to hold a paintbrush between his teeth to continue painting.

So there was more than one gasp when one of Milwaukee’s finest artists, Gary John Gresl, stated that his solo show at Mount Mary College would likely be the last significant gallery show. It was not a cry for attention. Gresl is a humble man who has done much to bring recognition to other artists. He helped enlarge and improve the century-old organization now called Wisconsin Visual Artists and he collaborated with Tom Lidtke from the Museum of Wisconsin Art and others to inaugurate the Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Awards. | Jan. 17, 2013»Read Full Blog Post

Rosita Johanson’s minute narrative needlework are neatly aligned along gallery walls and glowing brightly in rainbow bright hues. The 20 works, from the 1990s through the 2000s, are on view at the Racine Aart Museum through Feb. 3.

The late Canadian artist was originally a dressmaker, the daughter of a tailor. She was born in Germany in 1937. She expressed her craft on canvas as well, stitching and appliqueing plush layers of fabric and using various other needlework techniques that she experimented with through the years. Johanson often employed loop pile embroidery, sewing shimmering beads, shells and various found items into her works. Loop pile creates a plush surface from tightly packed raised loops of yarn. It's also used to create carpeting, velvet and corduroy. | Jan. 17, 2013»Read Full Blog Post

How much dazzle can you put under The Domes? Find out when park organizers stage the first "Night Under the Lights" Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The show consists of no fewer than seven light shows set to music. That music includes everything from "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (bring your round sun-glasses) to "Liberace's Chopsticks" (talk about glitter!).

Other shows shine out today, too. The Milwaukee Repertory Theater presentation "How the World Began" looks at the sometimes fiery debate between scientific and religious beliefs in its presentation of "How the World Began." | Jan. 17, 2013»Read Full Blog Post